Fasting advice.

[TerryW]

Hi guys I was diagnosed with Type in October 2019. With medication my BS levels were very good. I am vegan and have been for over a year after many years as a vegetarian, also I am currently living in Cambodia, cook most of my own food and am eating only a tiny amount of carbs and only brown rice, basmati rice, sweet potato, buckwheat pasta, quinoa and pearl barley.

I retired in December and since then have at times had problems with my morning BS reading being very high. I also take a reading 2 hour after lunch which is usually very good. The biggest change now is that I wake up about 8am and before when I was working I was up at 6am so there is a 2 hour difference in the reading time. Do you think this is the problem?
Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Toucan]

Hello @TerryW and welcome to the forum.
I am not aware that we have any other members from Cambodia, but if we have they may be along to say hello.

The high morning reading could be due to Dawn Phenomenon, This link explains more about this: Dawn Phenomenon

Good to know that you are readings are otherwise OK. What sort of readings are you getting?

One thing that many members do is to use a testing plan to work out which particular foods effect their blood sugars.
It is different for all of us and even different foods eaten at different times of day can give different results.
There is more information about this on the article test-review-adjust

Best wishes

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @TerryW

Sounds like you have found strategies that work well for you on the whole.

I think any significant change to lifestyle, like retirement, could well be reflected in BG, differences in waking, stress, activity levels etc can all impact on BG levels.

Its unlikely that exactly the same strategies that worked well during working life will work in exactly the same way now, I think.

I think @Toucan ‘s plan of a period of data collection and diary of food, activity and BG levels could give you some helpful pointers. If it is Dawn Phenomenon, then some people find a small low carb snack before bed helps, as does eating something soon after rising.

 

[TerryW]

Thank you guys for the quick response, I have been wodnering about what I now know to be called Dawn Phenomenon. I often have light snacks such as popcorn or pumpkins seeds , papaya or similar. The latest snack would probably be 9pm and that leaves 11 hours until I wake and test. I'm tempted to set an alarm for a few days for 6am and test again. I might try the other suggestion of not snacking after dinner, although the boredom of isolation (not enforced like in the UK but I do my best) makes it harder.

 

[TerryW]

Hi toucan sorry I didn't post my readings, here you go for this last few days, first column is pre breakfast, second 2 hours ish after lunch

21/04/2020​	163	105​
22/04/2020​	136​	101​
23/04/2020​	142​	175​	103 + 1hr
24/04/2020​	131​	99​
25/04/2020​	147​	97​
26/04/2020​	142​	102​
27/04/2020​	165​	101

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Divide by 18 for mmol/L 🙂

 

[TerryW]

Divide by 18 for mmol/L 🙂

I know it's a different reading in the UK. Here I told I should be between 80-126 after fasting and between 100 and 140,
2 hours after eating

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

🙂

21/04/2020	9.0	5.8
22/04/2020	7.6	5.6
23/04/2020	7.9	9.7	5.7 + 1hr
24/04/2020	7.3	5.5
25/04/2020	8.2	5.4
26/04/2020	7.9	5.7
27/04/2020	9.2	5.6

 

[TerryW]

🙂

21/04/2020	9.0	5.8
22/04/2020	7.6	5.6
23/04/2020	7.9	9.7	5.7 + 1hr
24/04/2020	7.3	5.5
25/04/2020	8.2	5.4
26/04/2020	7.9	5.7
27/04/2020	9.2	5.6

Is that better?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Is that better?

I just translated for UK- based forum folks who don’t necessarily have an instinctive feel for mg/dl levels, so that they could comment more easily 🙂

 

[Drummer]

Is that better?

Oh that's a relief. With the things you are eating I'd be sky high. You must still be able to deal with carbs in some quantity. I replied to your other post and have been wondering about your situation.

 

[TerryW]

So I just took a reading a bit over two hours after my evening meal and it was 109 (6.1) in UK terms. First time I've taken a reading after my main meal. Does this then seems to be pointing to Dawn Phenomenon ? It's now 10pm here. I'll sleep from aout midnight until 8am so probably need a snack soon 🙂

 

[trophywench]

Have some fat and protein with your evening snack carbohydrates and see if that improves your meter result tomorrow morning.

Haven't got the slightest idea what might fit the bill where you are or indeed being vegan cos you don't need very much at all of any of the 3 food groups, not like it's a meal after all. We'd normally suggest trying eg a small plain biscuit eg a mini-oatcake one, buttered and with cheese on top.

 

[TerryW]

I tried just having a small snack at 10pm, at dinner at 7.30pm. Snack was a small amount of roasted spiced chick peas. Didn't work this mornings reading at 8am was 147 (8.1). I keep trying.